Michigan State’s Tom Izzo still doesn’t know what to think about 1-and-done rule

Tom Izzo’s biggest star at Michigan State is Miles Bridges, a player who could have been a lottery pick in the 2017 NBA draft
but decided to return for his sophomore season.

He also coached Deyonta Davis, who left the Spartans after his freshman season in 2015-16 and now plays for the Memphis Grizzlies.
Izzo has at least some perspective on the one-and-done process, but the coach is still hesitant to pick a side.

“I don’t even know what I’m in favor of,” he told reporters Tuesday. “The only thing I’m in favor of is figuring out a way
that it benefits these kids in the long run. Not one or two kids that could do this or not kids that do that. It’s just, how
are we going to help these kids grow, make decisions — because there are a lot of bad people in there making decisions for
them — and help them in the long run? And if it means they come right out of high school, I’m great. If it means that it’s
one-and-done, I’m great. If it means that they stay three years, I’m great.”

Izzo continued:

“But we talk about all this research. The only research is what happens to the guy that makes millions of dollars. The guy
that’s on the street corner with a brown bag right now, we don’t talk about him. The guy that doesn’t have a chance to get
his education or play in the NBA, we don’t talk about him. There are a lot more of them than there are LeBrons and Kobes,
and that’s the problem.”

The NBA instituted the one-and-done rule 2005, which mandated that kids must be one year removed from high school before entering
the NBA. But commissioner Adam Silver said the league is looking into the idea of changing it.

“What I’ve said about the one-and-done rule is that it doesn’t appear to be working for anyone,”
Silver said on ESPN’s Golic and Wingo. “We’re hearing from college coaches, college administrators, and the NCAA directly, and their view is, if these young men
don’t want to be in college longer than, in essence, one season, then they probably shouldn’t be there.”

Izzo wants the focus to be on the players, which is where it should be.

“It shouldn’t be what’s best for college basketball, and it shouldn’t be what’s best for the NBA. Because you know what? College
basketball’s gonna go on no matter what they do, and the NBA’s gonna go on no matter what they do. It’s these people, these
human beings that are gonna win or lose.”

Izzo is in favor of doing a study on the effects of the one-and-done rule:

I’ll say that ‘til the day I’m done, and I’ll probably get criticized for it. I think of decisions that I have to make at
my age that I don’t do a good job of. I’m not sure anybody can do a great job. I think there is still a process of getting
something, and when you work through the process, you’re usually in a better position to handle the success or failure that
you’re gonna have. And until we take a 10-year study, not 20 or 30 like it used to be, but a 10-year study and really look
at how many kids have come out, what has happened to them, how many that have been successful have any kind of life. Did they
blow all their money? Did they do this? Did they do that? Those are the statistics that I think we have to look at, and if
we do that, I’m cool with leaving freshman year of high school, if that’s what we think is best for them.